A Prince with Lady and Attendant
Artist
Unknown
Date1838–1842
Mediumopaque watercolor on paper
Dimensions19.4 x 14 cm (7 5/8 x 5 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsNon-Western Miniatures
Credit LineBequest of Mrs. Frank E. Heywood
Object number1937.79
Label TextChess and other board games were popular pastimes among ladies of the palace. Here red and green pieces won by each player are seen beneath the footed board. Although formally entitled A Prince with a Lady and Attendant, this painting actually depicts two women playing chess. The image does suggest a typical love scene, but the long hair, hennaed feet, and jewelry of the central figure clearly indicate it is a woman.
The composition--particularly the seated figures facing each other, the simple square building, and the plain landscape behind--is typical of nineteenth-century painting in places like Jaipur. And as in other Rajasthani paintings of this time, Mughal influence is evident in the careful finish and attention to detail. Note, for instance, the dark foliage illuminated by the impending storm; the repetition of gold patterning in the female attendant's dress, the large bolster, the hats, and the building behind; ant the softly modeled roundness of the faces. The rendering of the "still life" fruit and ceramics on the table is in the Mughal tradition, as is the style of clothing: the hats, in [particular, are copied from the very latest fashions of dancers at the Mughal court. The formulaic landscape, as well, as the gaudy colors and emphasis on realistic rendering of detail are typical traits of the Indian tradition increasingly in contact with the European world.ProvenanceMrs. Frank E. Heywood, Worcester MAOn View
Not on view
